Plague, huh? Massively deadly, making things worse in a city already hurt by a natural catastrophe, spreading fear and suffering… sounds about right for an Arc I expect to be dominated by the Slaughterhouse Nine as they begin testing their nominees and possibly terrorizing civilians.

Howdy, everybody, and welcome to Arc 12! …or is it I who should be welcomed to Arc 12? I guess so, though I do think there are some of you who read alongside me.

Anyway, welcome nonetheless! If not to Arc 12, then back to the liveblog!

So, what are we in for today?

I assume Wildbow’s had his fill of alternate POVs for some time, and we’re following Taylor in the Arc proper, not having another Arc like Sentinel (besides, the Arc 11 Interludes were practically one of those) just yet.

(If my speculations about the story’s overall structure are correct, we probably won’t get another one of those before the next majorly climactic Arc, like how Sentinel came after Extermination).

So what happens to Taylor in 12.1? It’s possible that we’ll see the Undersiders getting together to discuss Alec’s trouble with the Slaughterhouse Nine. I don’t think he sees it as their problem, but unlike Rachel, I don’t think he’s stubborn or stupid enough to not ask for help when it’s like this. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s neglected to tell the others things, especially regarding his family.

It’s also possible we’ll hold off on the Slaughterhouse’s influence for this chapter and instead explore some other side of how Taylor is doing now, such as how she’s adjusting to having staff and a claimed territory and feeling a bit better about things than she did in 11.1. Maybe we could even run into Danny again, though that seems a bit too much like a repeat of 11.1 at this point.

Without further ado, let’s leap into it and find out!